From breaking out your eating pants for the Qatar International Food Festival to dancing the night away at a Beenie Man concert to checking out a new spring festival, there’s lots to do around town this weekend.

Here are our picks:

Qatar International Food Festival

The 8th annual edition of QIFF will kick off today at the Hotel Park in front of the Sheraton Grand Doha at 2pm.

This year, the festival will feature several new additions, including a garden picnic where families can buy a basket, collect a blanket and sit on the grass to eat their meals.

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There will also be food trucks, kiosks and stalls selling small bites for QR5 to QR35, along with Dinner in the Sky, a live cooking theater from 5pm to 9pm daily, and outdoor screenings of food-related movies from 9pm to 10pm, courtesy of the Doha Film Institute and Qatar Foundation.

And each night at 8pm, a fireworks show will take place.

To avoid wastage, unsold and “untouched” food will be given to Eid Charity to distribute to those in need.

The festival will go from 2pm to 10pm on weekdays and from 2pm to 11pm on weekends until April 8.

For more information on participating restaurants and menus, check out QIFF’s website.

Spring festival

Mall of Qatar is launching its first spring festival on Thursday, March 30. The event runs through April 22 and includes live performances, prize drawings and hot air balloon rides.

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There will also be flower arrangement workshops, mall-wide parades and new shows from the mall’s resident troupe. More information can be found on MOQ’s website.

Beenie Man concert

Grammy award-winning Jamaican reggae dancehall recording artist Beenie Man, also known as “the king of dancehall,” will take to the stage this Thursday, March 30 at the St. Regis Doha’s Oyster Bay area.

The concert will also feature several DJ’s, including EarthKry, DJ Teddy Jam and DJ Mubarak.

It will run from 7pm until 2am and costs QR120 per person for early birds. Tickets can also be purchased at the door for QR150.

Only those 21 years and older are allowed entry. Passports/IDs are required. For more information, visit the event’s Facebook page.

Rang Barse

Two weeks after the Indian spring festival of Holi, local events company Red Apple is hosting Rang Barse, a colorful dance festival on Friday, March 31, at the Doha Marriott Hotel Beachfront.

The event, which starts at 3pm and runs until 10pm, features several local DJs playing Bollywood beats, a food court with Indian food, color stalls, water guns and various other activities.

Tickets cost QR150/person for regular entry (QR200 at the door) and can be purchased online.

For more information, visit the event’s Facebook page here. The event is open to the public, and children above the age of eight years old are required to enter with a ticket.

Movie night under the stars

Sherborne Qatar Prep School is hosting a Star Wars and Trolls themed night this Friday (March 31) on its campus in Al Rayyan. Participants can come dressed as their favorite characters and watch both films “under the stars.”

The first screening will be of Trolls (2016), from 6pm to 7:20 pm. Star Wars – Episode IV – A New Hope (1977) will then be screened at 7:40pm. Doors open at 5:15pm.

Entry costs QR50 per person and QR150 for a family ticket. Children below three years old enter free of charge. A “buy 3 get 1 free” deal is also on offer for tickets, which includes kid’s popcorn. More information about the event is here.

Attendees are encouraged to bring their blankets and and picnic snacks, although BBQ and soft drinks will be available for sale.

Souk Areej min Baladi

The College of the North Atlantic – Qatar (CNA-Q) is hosting a multicultural night this weekend that features multicultural foods, performances and activities.

Souk Areej min Baladi or “flavors of my homeland” is an annual campus event where students from more than a dozen countries showcase their traditions and heritage.

The event will run from 6pm to 10pm at the CNA-Q courtyard and is free and open to all. For more information, visit the event’s Facebook page.

Bonus:

• Korean film: A three-day Korean Film Festival concludes today with two screenings of Born To Sing (2013) at the HBKU Student Center. The South Korean comedy-drama directed by Lee Jong Pil tells the intertwining stories of people seeking redemption at a singing contest. The film will be screened at the Student Center’s cinema twice, once at 1pm, and a second time at 4pm.

What are your plans this weekend? Thoughts?